Furnace fan



De@ 21, 1943. o. BRUMMl-: 2,337,221

FURNACE FAN I A Filed Feb. 10, 1941 Patented Dec. 21, 1943 UNTED STATES .iiirsyhNT OFFICE FURNACE FAN Olin Brummer, Oak Park, Ill.

Application February 10, 1941, Serial No. 378,263

4 Claims. (Cl. 12B- 105) This invention relates in general to an air circulating fan and is more particularly described as a heat projecting system for a hot air furnace.

An important object of the invention is in the provision of an air circulating fan or heat projecting unit which may be incorporated as a part of an ordinary hot air furnace or applied thereto as an attachment after the furnace is in use.

A further object of the invention is in the provision of a Ventilating fan attachment adjustable blades and supports for readily applying it to furnaces and Ventilating systems of different slzes.

A still further object of the invention is in the provision of a circulating fan attachment for furnaces adapted to be adjustably supported at the edge of the sheet metal dome, and to include a support for driving motor as a part thereof.

A still further object of the invention is in the provision of a circulating fan attachment for furnaces having supporting means for the fan, drive motor and connecting drive mechanism, all adapted to be connected to the upper edge of a sheet metal supporting dome and easily accessible for attachment, replacement and repair.

Other objects of the invention will appear in the specication and will be apparent from the accompanying drawing in which,

Fig. 1 is a sectional view illustrating the invention as applied to the heating dome of a hot air furnace;

Fig. 2 is a plan View; and

3 is a plan section of the invention.

In some Ventilating systems, it is diicult to provide a suicient natural now of heating or cooling air under certain conditions. The present invention therefore provides an air fan structure which maybe readily applied as an attachment to furnaces of this type and used for similar purposes. For most furnace equipment, it may be used for producing a flow of hot air in cold Weather and cool air in hot weather.

Referring now more particularly to the drawing, a sheet metal casing 5 is shown in the form of a hot air dome for the top of hot air or other type of furnace having a plurality of distributing pipes extending therefrom to heat different rooms or spaces. The dome is usually frustoconical and a top 'l seamed or otherwise secured to the upper edge of the casing and forming a substantially tight joint with it. Usually the top is concave or conical with the lowermost portion at the center.

The present fan equipment may be incorporated originally with the furnace structure, and it is also adapted to be applied to a furnace of this type after it has been set up and in operation for some time. A central bearing support 8 has a number of ears t, preferably three, projecting therefrom at equal intervals and through each of these ears, one end of a rigid bar is inserted and secured in place by a fastening bolt il. At or near the outer end of each bar is a supporting sleeve l2 having an attachment bracket I3 with laterally and downwardly projecting ears Eil and l5 by means of which it is secured to the upper edge of the dome member 5 at its junction with the top T thereof.

Extending through the bearing member is a shaft I6 for which a central opening Il is made in the top 'l allowing the shaft to entend downwardly into the dome or casing 5. At or near the lower end of the shaft is a central fan support I8, having a number of ears i9 disposed at equal distances apart and at a distance from the axis or center of the shaft. In each ear, a supporting arm 20 is fixed, the arm extending outwardly at a tangent to the support, leaving a space at the center. Adjustably secured to each arm is a fan blade 2i which is curved transversely and is disposed with the concave side facing the direction or rotation of the fan with the lowermost edge in advance of the upper portion thereof. To secure each blade in position, a pair of straps 22 are secured at spaced distances at the back or concave side of the blade and each supporting a central collar 23 by which the blades are adjustably mounted upon the shaft. A fastening bolt 24 is inserted through each collar to engage the supporting bar or arm thus holding the blade in position.

At the top of the mounting, a large pulley 25 is secured to the upper end of the shaft Iii which projects above the mounting, by means of which the shaft and the fan is rotated. One of the supporting arms l0 projects immediately beyond its outer supporting bracket l 2, providing means for the attachment of a motor supporting bracket 2Q which has a sleeve 2l adjustable on the end of the supporting bar lil and held in any adjusted position by a fastening bolt 28 and having a motor supporting base 29 at an angle thereto for the attachment of an electric motor 3G. At the upper end of the motor shaft is a multiple driving pulley 3 l connected by a belt 32 to the driving pulley 25. An attachment of the motor on the supporting bar I9 makes it`possible to connect either one of the grooves of the multiple driving pulley with the pulley on the fan shaft. By this means it is possible to readily and easily change the speed of the driving fan for different ventilating conditions. In operation, the fan blades sweep over close to the edges of the the pipe openings and being curved from the bottom upwardly and having an open space at the inner ends of the blades, a sweeping and propelling movement of the air into and through the pipes is effected. With this construction, it is easily possible to utilize the same fixture or attachment for furnaces of different sizes, the attachments are easily and quickly applied to any furnace even by an inexperienced person and changes in the driving relations of the motor and pulley are. easily made to accommodate the attachment for. either heating or cooling purposes.

It is apparent that although particularly described in connection with a furnace and heating equipment, the same attachment may be readily applied to any similar casing from which air is to be driven by a fan.

I claim:

1. An air circulating attachment for a conical casing having distributing openings in the upright side walls thereof, comprising a fan having a central support with extending fixed arms, a shaft secured to the support and adapted to extend through the top of the casing, a bearing member for the upper end of the shaft having adjustable arms extending to overlie and engage the outer edge of the side walls of the casing, means for attaching the outer ends of the arms to the upper edge of the casing, one of the arms adapted to extend beyond the edge of the casing and having a motor support adjustable thereon, a motor secured to the support, and a driving pulley connected with the motor and mounted at the upper end of the fan shaft.

2. An air circulating unit comprising a fan having a central support with arms extending outwardly therefrom, a shaft extending upwardly from the support, a bearing carrier for the shaft having perforated brackets at the edges, arms extending adjustably through the brackets and projecting laterally to overlie the upper edge of a furnace casing and to support the carrier and fan at a distance from the edge of the carrier, a driving pulley secured to the end of the shaft at the outer side of the carrier, a driving motor secured to the outer end of one of the supporting arms for the carrier and having a driving belt for connecting it to the shaft operating pulley.

3. A structure in accordance with claim 2 in which the motor has a multiple driving pulley and the motor is adjustable longitudinally on its supporting arm so the same belt may be used for different driving connections between the pulleys for driving the fan at different speeds.

4. An air circulating unit for an enclosed casing with an upwardly projecting wall, the unit having a central support with arms projecting outwardly from the support to overlie the upper edge of the wall at a distance from the center and at a tangent to the support, a shaft extending downwardly from the support, a plurality of fan blades carried by the shaft within the cas-\ ing, and means .adapted to be mounted on one of the arms at the outside of the casing and connected to the shaft at the top of the central support for rotating the shaft and the fan blades in the casing.

OLIN BRUMMER. 

